Counting Down the Seconds
by MissScaryKitty
Summary: Timekeeper Mara Ferris finds herself stranded in Zone 12 with only minutes left on her clock. Leon/OC
1. Chapter 1

AN: Hey guys! Just saw In Time and I had to write something about it immediatly.

**Chapter 1:**

No Timekeeper made it out of Zone 12 on their first day without blood on them. Most often the blood was their own and Timekeeper Mara Ferris was no exception. She thought she had everything under control, was well-trained and knew the ghetto like the back of her hand. After all, that's where she came from. Yet even with the advantage she had, she ended up doing something foolish that had almost gotten her killed. Suffice it to say, she never made the same mistake again. Mara was driven out of Zone 12 by backup on that day with a knife wound to her side and two minutes left on her clock.

Mara couldn't help but think about that incident as she staggered over to the beat-up payphone, disheveled and out of breath. Damn Minutemen, she thought to herself, they will pay for this. They knew better than to ambush a Timekeeper, especially one as high up as her. Zone 12 was descending into chaos and the criminals were getting bolder by the minute. She supposed they thought this was a good way to take their revenge against the authorities and something that they could get away with. If she made it out of this alive she was going to show them just how wrong they were.

She subconsciously placed her hand over the scar on her side from the stab wound she had received her first day so many years ago. She had come such a long way since then only to find herself in a similar predicament. Grabbing up the phone from the receiver, she was certain she could feel the ghost of the stab wound pulse beneath the layers of her clothing. Frustrated by this moment of weakness Mara pulled her hand away and put it to better use by depositing one minute into the payphone and dialing the necessary number.

Unzipping the sleeve of her grey leather jacket Mara looked at the time left on her clock: 000:00:0:00:29:04. "Shit," she spat, knowing that she was in some trouble. The phone began to ring as she stared fixedly at the depleting numbers on her arm. This wasn't going to be enough time to get out of Zone 12 without a car, she thought as she bit her lip anxiously. It was like her first day all over again only this time help was miles away.

It wasn't unheard of, that Timekeepers found themselves in such predicaments with no way out. Fighting with their last shreds of hope of survival till their clocks ran down to zero. This was a risk that every Timekeeper took; Mara just never thought that it would happen to her. She was always so clever, so diligent; she always found a way to escape in the end. This time however, things were not looking good for her.

The Minutemen had caught her by complete surprise and although they weren't skilled enough to be able to take her life they jacked her car which, judging by the time she had left on her clock was just as good as killing her. She was stranded in an abandoned projects neighborhood and there was no possible way for her to get time without her car. She knew Leon was going to be pissed when she told him what happened but she'd much rather take the reprimanding from him than accept the alternative.

To Mara's relief, the ringing on the other end of the line stopped and a familiar stoic voice answered the phone, "Hello?"

"Raymond," she said, mentally cringing as his first name left her lips. Obviously she was more nervous than she thought if she made that slip. Oddly enough, he did not correct her. Perhaps he sensed that she was in trouble. "It's Ferris I'm stranded in Zone 12 and need immediate assistance."

Raymond sighed in annoyance. He was on the far ends of the neighboring Zone and in no mood to deal with screw-ups. But then again it was Timekeeper Ferris, he thought. He has worked with her for over a decade and even shared some cases with her. She was a good agent; rarely got in over her head and he knew her well enough to know that she would not ask for help if she didn't absolutely need it.

"Where are you?" He finally asked.

Mara ran her fingers through her hair, and looked out at her surroundings. "The old storage yards in the East End Projects, I'm under the overpass."

"How much time do you have left?" He asked, swiftly heading over to his car, his leather trench coat flying out behind him.

"Twenty eight minutes and twenty four seconds," she told him, glancing at her clock. Her heart was beating anxiously in her chest and she hoped to God that he would make it in time. "I would appreciate it if you'd hurry."

"Stay where you are. I'm on my way."

Raymond threw the car into drive and turned on the siren before speeding off down the road towards Zone 12. He had a little over twenty eight minutes to get to her. As he weaved in and out of traffic he began to realize that wasn't very much time at all. Pressing down heavily on the accelerator, he channelled all of his determination towards reaching Mara in time.

AN: Please Review and let me know if you want to read more!** I will not update unless I know people are interested!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Mara stepped out from under the cold shadow of the overpass and into the sunlight. The warmth was welcoming but it did nothing to ease the tension in her body. Every muscle was alert and ridged, only serving to worsen her anxiety. She was down to one minute on her clock and there was still no sign of Raymond. She had thought of trying to run somewhere, but the rational part of her knew that there was no place for her to go and that her best chance was to wait for him.

"Be patient," she said aloud, planting her feet firmly in the middle of the deserted road. "He'll be here."

Her eyes were locked on the end of the street, searching for any movement on the road. She tugged nervously at the bottom of her jacket, rubbing the soft leather back and forth with her thumbs. Pushing up her sleeve once more she looked down at her clock; 000:00:0:00:00:17. Her heart froze in her chest; only seventeen seconds, she thought she had more time. This is it, she told herself, Raymond's not going to make it. Trying to come to terms with the fact that these were her last seconds of life she began readying herself for the end. Mara pulled her sleeve down and straightened her clothes out; brushing the dust from her pants knowing they'd only get dirty again when her body fell to the ground. Still she wanted to go out with as much dignity as she could.

When she returned her gaze to the road she gasped in disbelief, the shock of what she saw nearly knocked her backwards. Raymond's black car had appeared at the end of the road like a specter in the dry wasteland; dust kicking up behind the wheels of his speeding vehicle as it neared her. Mara didn't waste a moment to think about what to do; instead she broke out into a flat-out sprint towards him. The only thought running through her head was to get to Raymond. Her hair flew out wildly behind her as her feet thundered across the broken asphalt; every ounce of adrenaline in her body pushed her forward. She could do this, she told herself, she could make it.

It had taken Raymond longer than he thought to get into Zone 12, but with some heavy maneuvering and shortcuts he made it. He knew this Zone like the back of his hand; growing up there he knew it better than most of his fellow Timekeepers. If anyone had a chance of getting to Timekeeper Ferris in time it was him.

Once Raymond had turned onto the street where Mara told him she would be, he immediately saw her small figure waiting for him in the middle of the road as he had told her to do. Good girl, he thought to himself, perhaps he may be able save her after all. As he got further down the street he noticed that she was running towards him. No, he realized, she was sprinting for her life. He had never seen Timekeeper Ferris so frantic; the sight thoroughly disturbed him. He knew why she was running, she only had seconds left on her clock. The notion instantly put knots in his stomach; she was going to die right there in front of him. He immediately slammed his foot down on the accelerator in staunch determination to get to her. He was so close, he thought, only a little further and she'd make it. Raymond had known Mara for years; he wasn't going to let her die in the street.

"Come on, come on," he growled under his breath, willing his car to go faster.

The space between the two was closing quickly. Mara saw the single digits on her clock counting down out of the corner of her eye and immediately hastened her speed. 000:00:0:00:00:07… She had never run so fast in her entire life; the souls of her boots barely touching the ground as she ran. 000:00:0:00:00:06…

Raymond knew he couldn't possibly get her in the car in time, but he swerved out in front of her, screeching to a halt as he did and threw open the driver's side door. 000:00:0:00:00:05… "I need time!" he shouted to the computer as he quickly pressed his wrist to the car's time capsule. 000:00:0:00:00:04… Reaching out to her as far as he could he stretched himself between the capsule and the open car door. 000:00:0:00:00:03… Mara threw out her hand desperately reaching for that of her fellow Timekeeper's. 000:00:0:00:00:02… 000:00:0:00:00:01... their hands connected, sweaty palms pressed tightly to one another, 000:00:0:00:00:02… 000:00:0:00:00:03… 000:00:0:00:00:04…

Mara fell to her knees outside the car, coughing and panting for breath. She had run so hard that she felt like she was going to vomit from exhaustion. Still her fingers clamped tightly onto Raymond's wrist accepting the time he was feeding her from the capsule. His own counter flashed back and forth between 000:00:0:16:02:00 and 000:00:0:16:01:00 hours as he immediately transferred the time he was getting from his clock to hers.

It was like he was giving her his time, she thought in an exhausted musing. Immediately she wiped the idea from her mind. Her heart froze in her chest realizing what a dangerous thought that was. It was only after her admonishment of herself that she realized Raymond was not paying attention to his clock and was now giving her hours of his own time.

"Leon stop, you're draining yourself," she told him, quickly yanking her hand away from his strong grip. The excitement was obviously too much for them both, they weren't thinking clearly.

Raymond looked down at his clock and saw it held ten hours instead of sixteen… six hours less than what he came there with. He looked over at the capsule and sighed in annoyance; he couldn't request more time from the computer because he had already given the emergency time to Mara. Those six hours would be his punishment for not watching his quotient, he thought to himself. That would teach him not to lose focus on the job.

"Here," Mara said, taking his hand in hers again. Raymond flinched at her touch but her fingers wrapped firmly around his wrist before he could fully recoil from her. "Sixteen hours right?" she asked, still breathing heavily from before, her grey eyes meeting his sharp blue ones.

"Don't," he told her firmly, trying to pull away but she wouldn't release him. Then she began to add six hours from her clock to his. She knew he needed it and she also knew he was too stubborn and would refuse to take it back from her but she didn't care, he was getting his six hours back.

"Don't be difficult. You need it, Leon." Once the transfer was complete she let go of him and began to stand up from her near-prostrate position on the ground. Her pants were ripped at the knees and she was bleeding. Her left palm was scuffed up from landing on the asphalt. Placing her good hand on the side of the car she pushed herself up off of the dusty street.

"Are you alright?" Raymond asked, inquiring if she needed medical attention.

Mara nodded, as she brushed a few errant strands of hair away from her face, "Yeah… it's been one hell of a day Timekeeper Leon."

Raymond smirked at her words as Mara rounded the front of the squad car and got into the passenger's seat. Once she settled in Raymond looked over at her. He did not turn his gaze away but just stared at her instead. Up until now he never gave Mara Ferris much consideration. He knew she was a good agent, a useful partner in the field and cut a pretty figure to pacify the time moguls in Zone 12. Still on a personal level he knew little about her and he never gave it any thought until now. It didn't so much as bother him as it made him curious as to why, after over a decade, he didn't know her better.

Mara looked over at him and caught him in the middle of his silent musing. When their eyes met, Raymond didn't look away instead he continued to study her. Mara felt the intensity of his gaze and she wondered what he could possibly be thinking about. Had he figured out that she was from Zone 12 by seeing her run just then? She sincerely hoped that wasn't the case, she would have a hell of a time in the office if it was. Regardless, he didn't say anything and she didn't ask.

"Thank you," she said finally, wanting him to know that she appreciated him for coming to her aid. It had been quite a long time since those words left her mouth.

Raymond's expression turned somewhat confused for a moment; her words waking him up from his thoughts. Her gratitude was unexpected, especially from Mara whom he knew to be proud by reputation, he wasn't expecting her to say anything to him at all much less thank him.

"You're welcome," he answered, putting the car into drive and began to head back up the road. His reply was somewhat guarded but Mara knew he accepted her gratitude, if not a bit reluctantly.

She stole a small glance at him out of the corner of her eye before buckling her seatbelt. He was one tough bastard, she thought to herself as she gazed out the window, no other man like him. There was something about the way he made himself so distant, so unattached, that interested Mara. She had a theory on why this might be however she didn't dare ask him about it.

AN: So glad people are liking this story **Please leave me a Review so I know you all are still interested, I don't update unless I hear from you guys!** Also let me know if you want the rating to go up for later chapters.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

Hillary cautiously pulled open the door to her shower and examined the extent of the damage there was. She really did not want to get in there and scrub it but she had left the job undone for too long and now it was so dirty that she was forced to do it. Besides Mara would only nag her further on the subject if she came home from Zone 12 to a dirty shower. Perhaps Mara would be so used to ghetto scene by then she wouldn't notice the mildew, Hillary thought briefly before instantly ejecting the idea from her mind.

Turning up the volume on her headphones, Hillary sighed in resignation and then snapped on a pair of blue rubber cleaning gloves. Carelessly rummaging through the box of cleaning products she grabbed up the spray can of tile cleaner and began spraying down the shower. After coating the whole inside with a layer of toxic-smelling cleaner she began scrubbing. Finding an interesting rhythm with her work, Hillary began scrubbing to the beat of the loud music. She was getting into her work when she heard a door slam from the front of the apartment.

Hillary's heart froze in her chest; Mara wasn't supposed to be home until late in the evening and it was only 5pm. Immediately stopping what she was doing Hillary softly put down the scrub brush and quietly stepped out of the shower.

"Mara?" she called tentatively. There was no answer.

It could be Menken's boys, Hillary thought in a panic, stay calm girl you can handle this. Tiptoeing out of the bathroom, she picked up the broom she had left leaning next to the door.

"Mara?" she called again only to receive no answer and the slight sound of rustling in the living room. God, why wasn't Mara here she could take care of these jerks, she thought to herself. She had gotten them their time, it was ticking away on her arm, couldn't they have waited till tonight? Nearing the living room, she tightened her grip on the broom handle, almost like she was strangling it, readying herself to use it if she had to. What the hell kind of damage am I going to do with a damn broom, she thought helplessly before jumping in front of the door to the living room.

"Oh, dear god- sweet Jesus…" she cried emphatically, seeing Mara standing by the front door. She was taking off her jacket and holster belt. Casting Hillary an unreadable sideways glance, Mara pulled the two desert eagles from the sides of her belt. Hillary inwardly cringed at the sight of those giant guns; they really made her uncomfortable. "What are you doing home so early? Mara you scared the shit out of me girl!" She said trying to catch her breath, relieved that it wasn't Menken's boys after all.

"Some Minutemen nut-jobs tried to kill me today; I had to call in for backup… Why does it smell like a toxic chemical factory in here?"

"I was cleaning the bathroom," she said with a shrug, silently hoping that Mara would appreciate her initiative. Almost all her previous fears had flown out the window by then, having Mara around always made her feel safe. "Soooo which Timekeeper did you call for?" Hillary had a thing for Timekeepers, especially after seeing some of Mara's coworkers. However, much to her disappointment, the fact that her roommate was one did not do anything to help her to meet any for herself.

Mara hung her belt up on the coat rack and then opened all the windows, trying to air out the bleach smell. It was beginning to give her a headache. "Glad to see that the fact that I was almost killed means no never-mind to you."

"Oh come on, of course it does, but I know you can take care of yourself. I mean, shit, look at those guns!" She exclaimed, sitting on the back of the couch and dangling her feet. "You always come back in one piece."

"It was Timekeeper Leon by the way," she said leaning against the sill of one of the open windows with a pleased smirk tugging at her lips. Mara knew that Hillary would melt upon hearing that.

"Seriously? Mmm that man is so hot," she sighed, fall backwards onto the couch cushions, "Scary as hell but hot. Did you flirt with him?" She asked with a hopeful and mischievous grin.

Mara shot Hillary a deadpan look, "What do you think?"

Hillary groaned in frustration, "I don't understand it. How can you not flirt much less do every single one of those men in your office?"

"Easily," she said, pushing herself away from the windowsill and heading for the kitchen, "you get to know them. Besides, even if the majority of them weren't assholes, Timekeepers aren't the relationship type; I should know, I am one."

"You're no fun," she complained. "They're going to start to think you're a lesbian," Hillary called after her.

Mara ignored her comment and began to pull things from the fridge to make a sandwich; which there wasn't much to choose from. Slapping a piece of cheese down on a slice of white bread, she spread some mustard over it, folded it in half, and began to eat. It wasn't the greatest of meals but she was too tired to care. Entering back into the living room, she saw that Hillary had picked up the broom and began sweeping up the floor.

Watching her roommate unskillfully push the broom across the floor something on her arm caught Mara's eye. She sincerely hoped that it wasn't what she thought it was.

"What's that Hillary?" She said nodding to her roommate's arm.

"A broom," she said somewhat evasively, "you're the one who keeps telling me to use it remember?"

"No, not that, _that,"_ Mara said, this time pointing directly at Hillary's clock. "Where did you get all that time?" A stone started to settle in Mara's stomach as she looked at the extra days on Hillary's clock.

Hillary didn't stop sweeping but glanced down at her arm. The numbers read 000:00:9:23:56:45. "I got a loan, no big deal."

"No big deal? Hillary, that's over nine days you have on there. What on earth do you need a loan for?" She knew that over the years Hillary had developed a bit of a gambling problem, but she didn't think she'd do something so stupid as to take out a loan she couldn't possibly pay off.

"There's just a few friends I have to pay back for some stuff. So I mean yeah, I took out a loan and I'll pay it right back when I get my paycheck at the end of the week. I'll even have money left over for groceries. Like I said, it's no big deal."

"You better not be lying to me," Mara sternly warned her; the Timekeeper in her was now out in full force. "If there's something you're not telling me you better come clean now so I can possibly help you."

"Mara, I promise, everything's fine," Hillary said, trying to reassure her. The fact that Hillary was being so flippant towards such a serious situation was only frustrating Mara. "There's nothing to worry about. You've been a Timekeeper for too long."

"Yes, and that's how I know a debtor when I see one. I know you're not going to tell me whatever it is that you're mixed-up in but you've gotten yourself in with the sharks and pretty soon I won't be able to protect you."

Hillary threw up her hands in disbelief, "Come on Mara!"

"_So_, I'm going to tell you what you're going to do," she continued, ignoring Hillary's protestations. "You're going to give me that time for safekeeping until its owners come looking for it."

"What!" Hillary cried, not believing that her roommate was doing this to her. She needed that time. "I know what I'm doing Mara, I don't need your help."

"Like hell you don't. You haven't been to Zone 12, to the ghetto, where gambling debtors like you are murdered every day. You haven't seen what I've seen or lived around what I've lived around; if you did you'd know that you've just made the stupidest mistake of your life taking out that loan. Now shut up and stay here," she ordered Hillary before going into her bedroom. She came back with a time capsule in her hand and before Hillary could put up a fight she grabbed her arm and pressed her wrist against the capsule. "When you need this time you call me. I'll be holding onto it for you."

"Jesus Mara," Hillary snapped, grabbing up her yellow jacket and purse from the coat rack and opening the front door. "You know you can be one overbearing bitch."

"I'm doing this to protect you Hillary," Mara told her, standing in the middle of the living room. "When people start dealing with time, they end up getting themselves killed. You'll thank me later."

Hillary shook her head in frustration, "whatever; you're such a cop Mara. No wonder nobody wants to be around you. I know I don't."

Mara watched as Hillary slammed the door behind her. She could hear her heavy footsteps grow quieter down the hall. For a brief moment she thought about going after her but she figured she couldn't go far without her time. This day just never seemed to end.

**AN: **Hey guys! Thanks so much for the great reviews they really motivate me to write faster (as well as more). **IMPORTANT: **I write for ALL of you guys out there and therefore I want to accommodate all of your requests regarding the rating of this story. I am going to keep this story rated T for those of you who really expressed such wonderful interest in my story.** HOWEVER **I will also write separate M rated one-shot chapters that coincide with the storyline but yet do not advance it so those of you who wish to read the T rated version don't miss anything important. Hope this satisfies everyone and encourages you to continue reading my work. **Thanks so much for your wonderful support and please remember to review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

It was 11:47pm and Hillary still hadn't come back to the apartment yet. Before heading into her room to change into her workout clothes, Mara checked both the home phone and her cell phone for any missed calls. She knew there wouldn't be any, after all she had been looking periodically all night, but it had become a habit as she waited for any news of her. After staring dully at the empty inbox on her phone's home screen for a moment, Mara pocketed her phone and retreated into her bedroom.

Opening her dresser drawer, Mara pulled out a sports bra and a pair of long black yoga pants to change into and threw them on top of her bed. She knew that as long as Hillary was absent she wouldn't be going to sleep so she decided to get a workout in. It would relax her and allow her to clear her mind. When Hillary came back hopefully she would have a solution for her problem but right then she felt like taking her frustrations out on her punching bag. She never thought that she'd ever have to deal with something like this again; not after she moved out of Zone 12 at least. Apparently there was no escaping it.

All of this was such a bother. The fact that Hillary was out there alone, left to her own devices, was troubling to Mara. Hillary came from a privileged background and was ignorant of how the real world worked; she couldn't be trusted to take care of herself. The longer she was out there, the more time she had to run into trouble. In hindsight, Mara knew she should have gone after her when she left the apartment. At least then she wouldn't have had to wait up for her, wondering if she was doing something stupid.

Slipping into her workout clothes, Mara headed into the spare room that she had converted into a home gym. She found herself retreating to this place a lot. After doing some basic stretches Mara taped up her hands and went to work on one of the punching bags. Her focus was split between executing her punches and mentally beating herself up about this Hillary situation.

This was right before your eyes how could you not see this, she told herself. Legally there was nothing she could do it wasn't a crime to take out a loan, still she felt that she should have been able to prevent her own roommate from mixing in with the wrong crowd. It was insulting to herself and her profession.

Lying off the heavy punching, she began to mix in some kicks. Mara never bothered taking breaks between reps, she always felt that fighting through the fatigue made her stronger. She demanded a lot from her body, determined to push it further every time.

Once she was finished Mara picked up her phone from the bench in the corner and tried calling Hillary once more. Her call was directed immediately to voice mail. Sighing and sitting down on the bench Mara waited to leave a message.

"It's Mara, please come home. I know you're angry at me right now but you need to come home."

Hanging up, Mara pushed the strands of hair that had escaped her ponytail back from her eyes and wiped off the sweat that was beginning to form at her brow. If she knew who else to call or where to go looking for her she would but there was nothing and nobody. There was nothing she could do and this was what bothered her the most.

Stepping onto the tumbling mats she began to do some floor work to improve her free-running skills. Starting at the far end of the room Mara leaped into a double back handspring and ended with a back tuck, her feet planted firmly on the floor when she finished. A smug grin tugged at the corner of her lips as she turned around to do another set of flips. Although this sort of training wasn't required for Timekeepers, Mara found it very useful to know when in the field. She had picked up free-running when she was a kid and when she turned twenty-five it became quite handy when evading a thug or a Minuteman.

Before she could prep for a front handspring front tuck, Mara heard a hard bang on her front door. Go ahead Hillary knock the door down, she thought as she grabbed up her black track jacket. She slipped it on over her sports bra and dropped her phone in her pocket. Then there was another harsh bang on the door which only served to agitate Mara. "I'm coming!" She shouted, pulling her hair out of its' high ponytail.

Mara entered the living room just in time to see the door get kicked open by a large man wearing a pair of combat boots and a motorcycle jacket. Splinters bounced across the floor as the man roughly pushed the door against the wall to hold it open. A taller, slimmer man in a cheap blazer entered in behind the first, his gun drawn. It didn't take him but a second to see Mara and train it on her- her desert eagles were too far away for her to grab so the only thing she could do at the moment was cooperate with them. There was no doubt in her mind that they were looking for Hillary.

"Now, stay right there," the taller man with the gun instructed her. He quickly brushed his long dirty hair out of his eyes and entered further into the room, his large friend following close behind. "Hello there girly," he said, his lips curled up in a lizard-like smile. "I'm Mike and this is Jamie and we're here to collect on some time you owe."

They were definitely after Hillary, she thought. Mara quietly considered the two for a moment. The skinny one obviously ran the show and the big one was clearly only there to be muscle. She could tell simply by looking at them that they were mob affiliated, perhaps even Minutemen- but whoever they were, she knew that they were little more than cronies. There was obviously someone bigger behind all of this.

Crossing her arms in front of her chest, Mara cocked her head to the side and said, "Sorry to disappoint, but I don't owe you a thing. Cute entry by the way, but it took you at least three kicks to knock down my door whereas I could easily have done it in one. Now, how do you possibly think I'm going to take you seriously?"

"Because, girly, I'm the one here with the goddamn gun!" He shouted, pulling the hammer back and storming up to her. He was getting closer now, and that's exactly what Mara wanted. A little bit further and she could grab hold of him and take his piece away.

"Cool it Mike," she told him, putting up her hands to calm him down. Mara didn't want to get him too riled. "Let me first start off by saying, you got the wrong woman. Second, who do I supposedly owe time to?"

"Menken of course, don't play dumb. We know you're Hillary Shaw and we also know you owe our boss exactly nine days and fourteen hours." The man ran his fingers through his lanky hair again, looking over at her with a satisfied grin. "You see, when people start playing dumb I have to get Jamie to knock some sense into them and I don't want to bruise your pretty little face sweetheart."

Mara frowned at his backhanded compliment, she thought she might just clock him one after hearing the word 'sweetheart' leave his mouth. From what she knew at the agency, Menken was a Minuteman, high up in the ranks and owned several casinos around the Zone. A group of Timekeepers kept a constant watch on him and his men's movements just in case one day he steps out of line.

Hillary had gotten herself in deep, she thought. Mara knew she had the time Mike and Jamie were looking for in her office, just sitting on her desk chair. The thought of giving it to them no questions asked had crossed her mind but she knew if she did Hillary would die. Hillary needed to give back that time she took from the bank or else they'd find her and take whatever she had. They didn't care if they had drain her clock dry, they want their money back and they get it any way possible.

Placing her hands on her hips, Mara met Mike's gaze. He had dark circles under his eyes and she couldn't tell if they were from smeared eyeliner or lack of sleep. "I promise you you've got the wrong person," she told him honestly.

Mike held her intense stare for a moment longer before giving her a puzzled look and reaching into his pocket to pull out what appeared to be a photograph.

"What the hell?" He muttered under his breath, his eyes darting back and forth between the picture in his hand and Mara. "This isn't her," he told Jamie, shoving the picture into his hand and making him look at it. "This bitch in the photo is a redhead, not a blonde. They look completely different. Shit!"

Looking at the now wrinkled photo, Jamie realized that he recognized Mara from somewhere but he couldn't place it. She looked nothing like the photograph of Hillary he was given but he knew that he has seen her somewhere before. Suddenly his eyes widened in fearful realization, "Shit Mike, it's the Timekeeper, she… she's a Timekeeper. I've seen her on the streets. What do we do?"

"Jesus," he cursed, looking over at Mara and pointing his gun at her with more purpose. "Thought you wouldn't say anything huh?" He asked, angry that Mara had tried to play him like a fool. She didn't answer but instead began trying to think up an escape route. "We have no choice we've got to kill her. You do it," he said shoving the gun in Jamie's hands.

Jamie did a double take then, looking from the gun to Mike and back again, unable to believe what his friend just said. "Kill a Timekeeper? Mike, are you insane, they will execute us for that- forget about a trial," he tried to reason with him.

"She's seen our faces, knows our business, we have to, now point the gun and shoot!" Mike yelled, trying to get control over his partner.

Jamie only shook his head, the pressure becoming too much for him, "I'm not going to be a cop killer, you do it."

"Fine, give be the gun," he said, grabbing it back from Jamie's hands. "You get started on torching the place."

Jamie picked up the gas cans and headed for the back of the apartment to spread the gasoline. Hesitantly looking back at Mara he spoke, "Mike are you sure we can't just-"

"Go do your damn job!" He shouted over his shoulder.

**AN:** Hi everyone, thank you for the wonderful support **PLEASE REVIEW! **These past few weeks have been very busy (I'm sure all of you are feeling the pressure somewhat) and **I'm not going to update unless I hear from you guys**. We all know time is precious. Have a good Black Friday for those of you braving the malls right now. For those of you looking for more Leon, he's coming in the next chapter!


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

The smell of gasoline permeated the air as Jamie poured it atop Mara's nice white couches in the living room. He shook it out on to book stacks, rugs, wood furniture; anything that would burn easily. Once he was done with one room he'd make a trail of gas leading into the next so when he'd light it, the whole apartment would go up at once.

Mara kept her focus on Mike who leveled his gun to her head. Her heart was racing at the sight of the end of the barrel but she managed to keep her nerves clam and her breathing even.

"Alright, give me your arm Timekeeper," Mike demanded, insistently stretching out his hand to grip her wrist. Mara paused for a moment then realized that, instead of shooting her, he wanted to drain her clock. Glancing up at him and then back down to his hand, she let him take hold of her arm and he began to steal her time upon contact. "I'll leave you a couple seconds left. Technically your blood won't be on my hands then."

"And you'll be able to sleep at night," she finished sarcastically.

Mike smirked, re-gripping her arm so he could get a better hold on her. "Something like that," he said with a nod.

"You're not from Zone 12 are you?" She asked, staring keenly into his eyes. Her gaze unnerved him but he wasn't about to let her know that. After all he had the upper hand.

"I may be poor but I was never _that_ poor," he answered with a slight snigger looking down at the numbers on her clock as they quickly depleted.

"Clearly," Mara replied, her eyes narrowing, "because if you were, you would know what I'm about to do next." Grabbing a hold of his wrist, Mara violently twisted it in her hand so the bones cracked and flipped him down onto the floor. Once he was down, she kicked the gun out of his reach and pressed her foot down hard onto his windpipe as she stole her time back from him. Replenishing her clock, she released him from her hold and ran into her office where the window to the fire escape was. Jamie was in the other room and Mike was laying on the ground yelling for him to go after her, there was no time to waste now.

Sliding across the wood floor and getting behind her desk, Mara snatched her backpack and Hillary's time capsule off of her office chair. She then tugged off her jacket, wrapped it around her knuckles and turned to face the window behind her. Gripping the frame for support, she punched through the window glass. Mara then kicked out the jagged shards from around the pane and slipped through onto the rusted fire escape. Flames had begun to spread into the room and quickly licked up the side of the walls of her office; Jamie must have lit the gasoline to try and smoke her out. Swinging over the railing she grabbed onto a drain pipe which was bolted to the side of the building and slid down it into the alley. The palms of her hands stung from being drug down the pipe but Mara briskly shook the pain off and looked up at her apartment window. It was glowing amber yellow from the light of the fire. Soon enough, smoke began pouring out of it, filling the night air with debris.

She knew a Timekeeper would have to come and investigate the scene so all she had to do was stand out front of the building, watch it burn, and wait for her ride to the agency. Yet, Mike and Jamie were going to hit the streets looking for her any minute and there was still something she had to do before she could relax. Shaking out the glass from her jacket, Mara slipped it on over her sports bra and headed back into the building.

Quickly ducking into her landlord's office, Mara watched quietly through a small crack in the door as Mike and Jamie ran down the stairs and into the street looking for her. Closing the door fully she searched her landlord's desk for the keys to his filing cabinet. She had to get rid of every scrap of evidence that would prove she ever lived there. Menken's boys had already torched her apartment and now all that was left for her to do was clean out the landlord's records of her residency. She could not afford to pay for the damages on the building and the agency would rather have her expunge her records than be involved in the mess.

Snatching up a set of keys from an empty cigar box in the third desk drawer Mara headed over to the cabinet and began trying them in the lock to see which one would fit. After a little jostling of the lock, she cracked the drawer open and fingered through the files. Finding one with her name on it she dumped it into the trashcan next to the desk. That was over a decade of her residency, her life, and it was reduced down to only one measly file; she had checked all of the cabinet drawers for more paperwork but that was all there was. As she searched the office she picked up any files on Hillary Shaw and dumped them in the trashcan too.

She wasn't sorry she was erasing it, she had uprooted her life before, presumably in search of something better, but regardless of the reason she could do it again. Besides, this time she had the agency to back her decision, it wasn't like she wasn't acting alone. And Hillary, well, she was doing her a favor. Finding a discarded Zippo lighter next to the plastic ashtray atop the desk she set the trash on fire. Mara made sure it burned every scrap of paperwork and then wiped the computer hard drive.

By the time she was back out into the apartment lobby there was a crowd of people running down the stairs trying to evacuate. Pushing through the mob, Mara made it outside and into the street. The fire alarm blared loud even outside in the cold night. Fear and tension hung in the air as they all stared up at the flames licking out of the broken windows of Mara's apartment. Two fire trucks pulled in followed by an ambulance. The fire fighters immediately went to work on setting up the hoses and pushing the crowd away from the building.

Mara stood on the outskirts of the mob, trying not to draw any attention to herself. Most of the residents wouldn't recognize her and those who would she never talked to. Hopefully they would think she was a passerby who just happened to see the flames and stopped to see what was going on. She then saw the flash of bright white lights out of the corner of her eye. Looking over her shoulder, she saw an agency car pull up in the alley across the street. She waited for the driver to turn off the engine and to come out but the car only idled there. Suddenly her phone began vibrating in her pocket.

Pulling it out, she answered, "Hello?"

"Timekeeper Ferris, it's Leon." Mara turned and looked at the agency car in surprise. She could not see him through the tinted glass but she knew he was inside. Typical, out of all the Timekeepers in the office Leon had to be the one to show up on the scene, she thought. "What are you doing here?" He asked, "I thought I said you could go home this afternoon."

"This is my home," she answered wryly, "the apartment that's on fire to be exact."

"What happened?" Raymond asked, looking at her figure standing on the edge of the crowd and then up at the building. He was neither concerned nor amused.

"Two of Menken's men came looking for my roommate. I just found out today that she owes them money- apparently it was collection day."

"Was she in the apartment with you?" He asked, hoping there was no dead body they'd have to explain.

"No, she wasn't home," Mara sighed, running her fingers through her hair. She was cold, sweaty and smelled like smoke. All of this was beginning to become quite uncomfortable. "They mistook me for her; torched the apartment and tried to kill me."

Raymond smirked, "Looks like they succeeded in doing only one of those things, congratulations."

Mara wasn't quite sure if that was a complement or not. "Yeah well, regardless this whole thing's a mess," she said patting the soot off of her clothes.

"But not the agency's mess right; you cleaned out your records didn't you?" He asked wanting to make sure she did her job.

"Yeah," Mara nodded. "As far as anyone's concerned, I never existed."

"Good, now come over," he told her, his tone more casual. "I'll drive you to headquarters. You can sleep in your office tonight."

"Thanks, be right over," she told him. The prospect of sleeping on her office couch was not so terrible. At least she knew it would be far removed from any Minutemen. She seemed to be having a lot of trouble with them lately.

Hanging up the phone, Mara then saw her landlord forcibly cutting himself a path through the mob of people and making a B-line straight for her. He was an immigrant from some Eastern European country Mara couldn't discern and she could see that he was cussing in his first language. The anger was written all over his face and Mara thought he was going to try and slug her.

"You and your friend did this!" He yelled accusingly as he stopped only feet away from her. "You will pay me every second you have for damages. I swear I will bring this to the highest authority, Timekeeper. You will not get away with this!"

"Look, sir, I don't even know you," she lied. Her words fell from her tongue as if it were second nature. "Now I'm going to have to ask you to step back."

"What! What are you talking about?" He cried out angrily. "I know you, you and your redhead friend- you trying to make me sound crazy? I'm not crazy! I have proof of you living here… I have you on file!"

Mara let out a long sigh of impatience, looked him dead in the eye and said, "there is no file. Now get out of my way."

He stared at her wide-eyed, mouth agape. He didn't have to run into his office and look in his paperwork to know that she had destroyed everything. All proof of her residency was destroyed. "I spent my entire life buying up these apartments, making a living, and you Timekeepers come in and just tear it down. This is America! It's supposed to be the land of opportunity, in America you're supposed to be able to make it here… but no! You won't let me, people like you! What am I supposed to do? You tell me, what am I supposed to do?"

"Sir, let me pass," she demanded authoritatively, pushing past him and heading over to Raymond's patrol car. Slinging her backpack over her shoulder she blocked out her landlord's pathetic cries as he yelled at the crowd of onlookers.

"I tried to make it! You see, I tried to make it!" He shouted as he pointed at the burning building, trying to push passed two firemen who were holding the perimeter.

Mara let out a slow and steady breath as she walked away from the scene, trying to maintain her heir of calm control. The cool breeze cut through the thin fabric of her jacket and she quickly pulled up the zip to cut out the cold. She needed to get a new set of clothes. First of all she smelled like hell spit her out and second she wasn't going to work the rest of the week in a sports bra and yoga pants. Reaching Raymond's car she slid into the passenger seat without so much as a 'hello'.

Raymond took in her disheveled appearance and heavy eyes; it looked like she had been through hell. He did feel a twinge of sympathy for her even though she seemed to be right in the middle of the latest mayhem.

"It seems you've had quite the day Timekeeper Ferris," he said as he put the car in gear and began driving out of the alley. He idled in the street outside of the apartment building for a moment, taking in the damage Menken's men had caused. They certainly wanted someone dead and no evidence to be left behind. However, what he really wanted to know was how Ferris fit into all of this.

Brushing her hair away from her face, Mara scanned the street for any sign of Hillary among the crowd. She saw only strangers and onlookers gazing up at the fire roaring from the windows of the top floor. Turning away and hunkering down in her seat she sighed, "Let's go."

**AN:** Hey! Here's another update for you. **Please review**, I will not continue to update if I don't hear from you. Leon will be featuring prominently in all future chapters and Weis will be introduced soon. Yay for a showing from the 1%!


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